Gujarat: Man held for illegal cigarette trade

Ahmedabad, June 3 The Ahmedabad city Crime Branch arrested a man found in possession of unauthorised e-cigarettes and foreign cigarettes, totalling a value of Rs 62,800.

The accused, identified as Mayur Kishore Kumar Mulchandani, was found with the contraband at his residence in Sindhi Colony, Talawadi Airport Road, Sardarnagar.

The confiscated items included 11 e-cigarettes valued at Rs 11,000 and 161 packets of foreign cigarettes worth Rs 51,800. The goods were seized from Anand Pan Palace, a shop situated en route to the Airport Circle towards Indira Bridge. The operation was conducted on Friday and the police revealed about it on Saturday.

Charges under Sections 7 and 8 of The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act-2019 and Section 7(2) of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, have been filed against the accused.

In an initiative aimed at maintaining law and order, high-ranking officials, including the Joint Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Police, were carrying out a night patrol across Ahmedabad, when they received the information about the illegal cigarette trade.

The team, led by ASI Virendrasih Kesharisingh and under the supervision of Police Inspector MS Trivedi, launched an operation.

Investigations reveal that the accused was allegedly procuring the e-cigarettes from a friend, Sabaz Ahmad, a former resident of Sarkhej currently based in Dubai. Further, it was disclosed that Mulchandani sourced other foreign cigarette brands from Kalupur Darwaja, and also indulged in their trade at a shop near Ahmedabad International Airport.

janvi/uk/